As Stark as Bone
by Professormalebs
Summary: Once upon a time, there was a team. This isn't a fairy tale though; there's no happy ending for these characters. It's marred with betrayal and sorrow, and made bitter by what should have been, rather than what happened. That's not to say it's all bad though. There were good times, and hope, as we strove to be heroes. This is the story of the rise and fall of Team STRQ. R&R
1. Summer Trailer

The snow fell silently in the night, each individual flake landing amongst their fellows and freezing into a solid white mass that blanketed the ground and the limbs of the trees overhead.

By contrast, the footsteps of monsters fell heavily, grinding the icy earth beneath with squeaks and crunches. Enormous wolves as black as pitch, save for the strange bone-like masks that covered their faces, walked upright like men amongst the trees of the forest. The largest among the pack raised its cracked snout and sniffed the air before letting loose a piercing howl.

Far above them, a mound of snow detached itself from the tree branch it lay on, revealing itself to be a slight figure in a stark white hood. Slowly, silently, the pale ranger drew back the string on a strangely shaped bow. The arrowhead caught some light emanating from nowhere in particular and gleamed scarlet in the instant before the arrow flew straight downward.

BOOM

The ground shook with the force of the explosion, sending Beowolves flying and rattling the nearby trees. The white-cloaked girl threw back the hood, revealing shoulder length black hair that lightened into red toward the tips. Beneath her, the slender branch she stood on creaked ominously before snapping off from the trunk.

As she fell silently, the girl took the handle of her bow and twisted it sharply, pulling apart the halves of the weapon. Twin curved blades fell upon the neck of a Beowolf, neatly detaching the head from the body, and the young woman rolled out of the way of another Grimm's claws. The short swords flashed once, twice, three times, and the Beowolves fell away in disembodied pieces, expiring in swirls of black ash.

She dashed and spun through the trees, her white cloak swirling about her small frame. With every slash of her swords, another Beowolf died, but for every one of the Grimm that fell, another three leapt forth from the darkness to take its place, converging upon the tiny figure. As the wolves drew closer, the girl shrank in upon herself until she seemed a speck of white in a sea of black. The mindless monsters slashed at the cloth of her cloak with violent ferocity, rending the fabric until a flurry of white scraps flew into the air.

The Alpha Beowolf lifted its massive, cracked snout into the air to howl with savage triumph, but stopped suddenly. The Creatures of Grimm are not ordinary animals, but they do share many characteristics with their mundane counterparts, including in this case, the sense of smell. The Alpha sniffed the air with confusion, expecting the scent of blood and death that accompanied slain humans and finding none. Unexpectedly, from the scraps of white fabric came the smell of... roses?

A ripple of movement spread through the black ranks as the other Beowolves sensed their Alpha's unease, but it was cut short by another red-tipped arrow whistling out from the dark sky into the center of the pack, right where the girl had fallen. The ensuing explosion vaporized those closest to it, and tore apart the rest, tossing them into the trees like rag dolls. In one fell swoop, all of the Beowolves had been slain. All save for one.

The Alpha snarled as it got to its feet, several new hairline cracks running across its bone mask and spikes. Not that it cared much, Grimm are not vain about their appearance, nor do they feel pain, at least not in the way that ordinary creatures do. Some dark instinct warned it of approaching danger, and the Grimm spun around, slashing at the girl who had just appeared behind it.

The girl yelped as her swords were knocked from her hands, and jumped back from the Alpha Beowolf's claws. The massive black werewolf sensed a spike of fear, and knew then that it had won. This girl might have slain its entire pack, but it would die, like all the other humans it had faced. The Alpha Beowolf growled as it pounced upon the white-cloaked girl, and then knew no more, as the dark forest exploded with silver light.

* * *

"Well done, Miss Rose."

Summer Rose looked up from where she sat crouched in the snow, inspecting her swords for damage. There was none of course, she had made Silver Thorn to be as strong and durable as possible, knowing that a Huntress without her weapons was as good as dead. Two men stood before her now, having seemingly appeared from nowhere, though Summer knew that they had been observing her the whole time.

The one who had spoken, a tall man in a green and black suit with silver hair and small, round, black glasses, tapped the snow-covered ground with his cane. "Still, there was room for improvement. Can you tell me what went wrong?"

"The Alpha took me by surprise." Summer replied. "It shouldn't have been able to knock my weapons out of my hands."

"What else." The other man spoke now. He was as tall as his companion, though in a different way. Where the silver-haired man towered over Summer even as he leaned on his cane, this one stood ramrod straight in a military sort-of manner, which was accentuated by the white uniform he wore, designating him as an officer in the army of Atlas.

Summer shifted her weight, feeling a cramp starting in her left leg. "I used my silver eyes to freeze the Grimm."

The military officer shook his head. "I was going to say that you should have used your Semblance to get away, but-"

"Specialist Ironwood is right." The silver-haired man interrupted. "The power of the silver eyes is only to be used as a last resort, at least until you come to Beacon."

"I'd still prefer it if she came to my school." Ironwood grunted. "She is a citizen of Atlas, after all."

"Your pride in your Academy is commendable, James. But realistically speaking, you would not be able to teach Miss Rose how to utilize her unique ability."

"So you say, Ozpin." Ironwood sighed. "So you say."

"So does this mean I've been accepted to Beacon?" Summer asked, the excitement in her voice clear.

Ozpin smiled as he drew a letter from the inside pocket of his suit, handing it to Summer. "You would have been a student at Beacon no matter what, Miss Rose. This was just a formality."


	2. Taiyang Trailer

The Harbormaster of Vale was bored. Idly, he wondered why the docks of the city even had a position that required someone to walk around all day looking at ships. The ship's crews and dock workers were efficient enough that he never needed to do anything. Not that he was complaining. He was being paid a lot to do very little, and that was always a plus.

"Hey! Stop those stowaways!"

The Harbormaster's eyes widened, and he spun around to see two young men running down the length of the docks, while several security officers chased after them. A small grin pulled at the corners of the Harbormaster's mouth, and he took out his trusty weapon, a rather short spear with a large head. "Halt!" He called out. "You shall not pass!"

The two men, really boys now that he got a good look at them, ignored him, and gave him a wide berth as they passed him. Or at least, they tried to. The Harbormaster's spearhead shot past one of the stowaways, a muscular youth with dark green hair, and embedded itself in a large wooden crate. The boy promptly tripped over the strong metallic cord that extended from the spearhead to the handle of the Harbormaster's weapon.

"Will!" The other stowaway, a slightly less but still muscular boy with blond hair hesitated, and the Harbormaster seized the opportunity, rushing toward him and laying the lad low with a kick to the chest.

"Tai!"

The Harbormaster turned to find the green-haired one running towards him, holding a large club aloft. Interestingly enough, it seemed to be a tree branch with several dust crystals embedded in one end, which seemed as though it would be as much a hazard to the wielder as whoever was on the receiving end of it. The Harbormaster shook his head as he neatly stepped out of the way of the swinging tree branch and yanked sharply with his weapon. The boy flinched back before frowning in confusion as nothing seemed to happen. Then the crate the spearhead had been attached to flattened him.

One down, one to go. The Harbormaster turned to face the blond just as he was blown back with a shotgun blast. He grunted as he struggled to catch his breath, frowning at the boy. The strange yellow bracelets he had been wearing had transformed now, turning into a pair of gauntlets that covered his arms from the elbows to the backs of his hands. The Harbormaster barely had time to observe that they must be the blond's weapons before the boy was upon him, throwing a deadly right cross toward his head.

Not giving the opponent a chance to catch his breath? That was hardly sporting. The Harbormaster leaned out of the way, wincing as the noise of another gunshot sent his ears ringing. Clearly the gauntlets fired a shot with every blow, the boy was obviously a slow brawler used to dealing out heavy damage. The Harbormaster had dealt with plenty of those in the time he'd worked as a Huntsman.

The Harbormaster caught the boy in the chin with the butt of his spear, then stepped clear as he responded with a left hook that caught nothing but air. The cable of the Harbormaster's spear wrapped around the youth's leg, tripping him. The Harbormaster stepped over to the blond, and was about to stab down with his spear to pin the lad to the dock, when the boy punched upward with both hands, creating a small explosion between them.

Blast, the Harbormaster thought as he flew backward. He had barely managed to get to his feet however, when the blond was upon him, throwing punches with wild abandon. They weren't random blows though, every single one would have connected with the Harbormaster's head or torso if he hadn't blocked them with the haft of his spear. And perhaps it was his imagination, but it felt like each strike was quicker and more powerful than the last, and the Harbormaster actually felt a little short of breath.

BANG

No, it wasn't his imagination. The Harbormaster grunted as a powerful blow connected with his stomach and sent him reeling back. It felt as though his entire aura had been drained by that one punch. But that didn't mean he was done yet. So long as he was able to stand, he would hold fast against these intruders-

THUMP

"That's for dropping a box on me." Will Verdan said to the prone figure lying facedown on the ground. He felt slightly bad for clubbing him over the head, the man had only been doing his job, but it had been a rather heavy box.

"Will..." Taiyang Xiao Long looked about nervously.

"What?" Will turned to follow his friend's line of sight. "Oh." The two boys were surrounded by police officers pointing guns at them.

"Vale Police! Don't move!"

* * *

"Let's not do that again." Taiyang shook out his tired legs. The two, upon being confronted by the local authorities, had promptly departed the docks and sprinted into the city proper, losing their pursuers in the winding back alleyways of Vale. And in doing so, had gotten lost themselves. After several hours, they finally managed to find their way back to the main streets, which were crowded with shops and colorfully dressed citizens.

"I don't know, I thought it was rather entertaining, myself." Will grinned. "This place is awesome."

"You think any place with enough trees is awesome."

"Well duh, look at all those birds!"


	3. Raven Trailer

It takes a special mix of stupidity and courage to catch a Grimm and attempt to contain it for longer than a few days. It takes even more bravery and foolhardiness to then attempt to kill said Grimm. After all, it is not said without reason that a caged Creature of Grimm is the most dangerous kind.

It should also be noted that bandits are, like most criminals, usually cowardly and superstitious. This particular tribe of bandits were however, also dumb enough to follow their chieftain's orders when the man ordered them to capture a Goliath, of all things. Or just afraid. Chief Branwen was not a woman to be trifled with, and those who dared defy her usually went missing. If they were lucky.

In any case, the bandits who had been tasked with capturing said Goliath considered themselves to be the lucky ones in this situation. After all, they weren't the ones facing the Grimm...

The cheering was deafening, but the enraged roaring of the caged Goliath drowned out the voices of the bandit tribe. The elephantine Grimm rammed the solid steel bars of its prison as jeering men and women threw empty bottles and other refuse at it. Just beyond the cage stood a young woman in a red and black dress, her hands resting on an extraordinarily large scabbard that hung at her side. A gunshot rang out, and the hinges on the cage door disintegrated.

The Grimm, sensing an escape, charged the door, sending it crashing outward. The Goliath kept on going, bearing down on the girl, who stood her ground, her only sign of movement to draw an extremely long yellow curve from her scabbard. Just as the Grimm was about to step on her however, the girl slipped out to the side and slashed at the creature's side with her blade.

KRAKOOM

Yellow tendrils of lightning crackled across black flesh, and the Grimm trumpeted in rage and pain, before wheeling around to face the girl, who now held just under half the original blade. She sighed and thumbed a button on the handle, and the broken blade of lightning Dust popped off, landing in the dirt. The girl slammed her handle back to the scabbard and drew another blade, just as long, but white this time.

The Goliaths found near the ruins of Mountain Glenn in the kingdom of Vale stand close to twenty stories in height, and are said to be hundreds of years old, possessing a rare cunning gained through hard experience. Such creatures can easily crush lone hunters, and pose a challenge for even the strongest of teams, yet rarely engage in combat with humans.

The specimen that the bandits had captured however, was far younger, standing just over twice an adult man's height, and clearly displayed the violent streak common to most Grimm. The strike from the girl's electric sword had wounded it, certainly not fatally, but enough to enrage the creature. It charged toward its much smaller opponent, but there was a wariness to its movements now, as it seemed to realize that a direct assault would not work.

This time however, the girl didn't wait until the Goliath was nearly on top of her, but instead slashed at open air. A ripple of powerful wind rushed outward from her blade as it disintegrated into powder, and the Grimm staggered as it was struck by the blade of air. However, its momentum was only momentarily affected, and it kept coming, raising its tusk high to strike its tormentor down.

The girl drew yet another blade, a deep purple one, and reversed her grip on the weapon, stabbing downward with the sword. As soon as the tip touched the ground, an outburst of purple and black bloomed from the impact, and the girl flew into the air as if stung. The Goliath's tusk slammed into the earth as she flipped at the apex of her flight, before landing nimbly on top of the Grimm's head. Quickly, the girl stabbed the remnants of her blade into the nape of the Goliath's neck.

The resulting force blew the pachydermic Grimm's head clean off, and the girl hopped off the disintegrating body as easily as though she were walking down a flight of stairs. The bandits, who had been watching with bated breath roared their approval. It had taken twenty of their strongest warriors three days to capture that Goliath. The girl had slain it in less than five minutes.

* * *

"I am pleased." The chieftain's hoarse voice seemed to fill the large tent. No matter how many times the girl had heard it in the past, it always made her shiver. "You are ready now, for the most important mission I have ever assigned."

The girl didn't move from where she knelt, her head bowed. To interrupt the chieftain was a foolish move. One did not speak until she allowed it.

"You and your brother shall go to the Academy of Beacon in Vale as students, and learn everything you can there. The Hunters have been a thorn in the tribe's side for too long, and we have no way of countering them. Learn their methods, how they think, every last weakness of their kind, and let no one know the truth of your purpose. Once you have every last bit of information you can take from them, come back to us. Am I understood?"

The girl knew she had to answer now. "Yes, chief. It will be done."

"Good." The chieftain leaned forward in the large chair she occupied, red eyes glinting in the dim light within the tent. "You've done well so far, daughter. I am proud of you, Raven."

Raven Branwen looked up at her mother. It was like looking into a mirror, though the chieftain was noticeably older, with a few streaks of grey in her mane of black hair and a few lines across her face. Raven wondered if she would look like Corva, should she live long enough. The life of a bandit was not an easy one, even without a near suicidal mission to infiltrate the stronghold of their greatest enemies.


	4. Qrow Trailer

The proprietor of the Bird's Nest had seen his fair share of shady characters. As the owner of the largest tavern in the city of Kuchinashi, he saw all assortment of people coming through, though all shared a similar purpose: to get as drunk as possible. Not that he really complained. It brought in much needed revenue.

Much needed because of individuals like the young man sitting at the end of the bar. He couldn't have been any older than twenty, but he had knocked back shots like a hardened alcoholic. That in itself wasn't particularly worrisome. What was concerning however, were the comments the kid was making.

"You're not much fun, you know that?" The drunk sneered at a tired-looking farmhand, who sighed and put down his beer on the countertop with a heavy thump.

"Maybe you ought to go have fun somewhere else, kid." The farmhand turned to face the young man. "This ain't a place for children."

"Pft. Who're you calling a kid? I've drunk more than you have, lady."

"I'm a man!"

"Oh really?" The kid grinned devilishly. "I couldn't tell, on account of you looking so feminine."

The older man flushed with anger and he drained his beer before getting to his feet. "That's it. I'll not sit here and be insulted by a little whelp who doesn't even have hair on his chin."

The barkeep frowned, and made a mental note to kick out the youngster if he started bothering anyone else. He did seem a little young, but had that look of a troublemaker who either drove away other customers or caused property damage through fighting. Best to end things before it got out of hand-

Suddenly the bartender's foot slipped out from beneath him and he fell heavily, smacking his head on the floor. He groaned, rubbing his sore cranium. He looked about behind the bar and realized that he had stepped on a puddle of spilled beer. He frowned; he was usually very good about not spilling his stock, and wiping up after himself if he did.

"Bad luck, mate." The kid had a strange glint in his eye as he said this, as though he knew something. He got up from the bar and staggered over to a nearby table where some cardsharps were working their craft. "Hey, deal me in."

"Get lost kid." The players didn't even look up at him, and the boy rolled his eyes before dropping a large stack of lien on the large pile in the center of the table. Immediately the cardsharps' demeanor changed. "Here's your cards, kid."

The bartender shook his head at the greedy gleam in the card players' eyes; the kid was probably going to lose a whole lot, but it wasn't his place to interfere if a rich brat wanted to gamble his lien away. As he watched the cards however, the barkeep's eyes widened. First one, then another player threw down their cards in clear disgust. Eventually, the only person at the table still holding their cards was the youngest one.

"Must be my lucky day." The kid smirked as he tossed his hand down. The King and Queen of Hearts lay on the stained and scarred wood of the table, and a dangerous silence hung in the air. He reached for the pile of lien in the center, and jerked out of the way as a large hammer slammed down where his fingers had just been.

"Ain't no such thing as luck in this game, kid." The owner of said hammer growled, thumping the tabletop with his hammer and making every discarded hand turn over. There were five Queens scattered about the table, and the kid looked down at the cards with bemusement.

"Clearly someone's been cheating."

"Damn right someone has." The hammer man hefted his weapon. "An' I know for a fact that the men at this table are good and honest people-"

"And you think I'm the cheater? As everyone in this bar seems fond of reminding me, I'm just a kid." The boy raised his hands to show his bare arms. "Look, no sleeves to hide anything, and you're the one who dealt the cards. So seems to me that if anyone here cheated, it'd be you."

The other card players leaned back from the table as the hammer's owner stood up. "Are you calling me a cheat?"

The kid was silent for a moment, perhaps just realizing how much danger he was currently in. The barkeep silently pleaded for him to cut his losses and walk away, but his hopes were dashed as soon as the boy opened his mouth again. "Well, I'm certainly not calling you someone who plays fair- is there even a word for that? Anyways, if you want the lien so much, you can have it!"

Suddenly the entire tabletop flipped over, propelled by the telescopic blade of a massive greatsword. The bartender's jaw dropped; where the hell had the kid been carrying that?

Lien, cards, and a massive wooden slab slammed into the hammer man, pinning him to the floor. Two seconds later, the table exploded into splinters. The bartender whimpered, mentally adding up the costs in his head. In a fair world, the people responsible for destroying the furniture of the Bird's Nest would pay for the damages, but years of experience told him otherwise.

"You'll pay for that, whelp." The hammer man snarled as he brushed splinters out of his hair.

Oh the irony.

"Who's gonna make me?" The kid sneered, effortlessly pointing the blade of his huge weapon at the man. "You?"

The man growled angrily and charged toward the boy, his hammer raised high above his head. To the bartender's astonishment, the kid didn't even react, or raise his sword to defend himself. In fact, the tip of the massive blade dipped lower before inexplicably extending even more with an odd clicking noise. No, wait- was the sword bending?

Suddenly the younger man held a long scythe that he swept across the floor, catching his opponent's feet. The hammer man tripped over the curved blade, and stumbled past the boy, who brought the haft of his weapon up to smack the older man in the back. He turned around, swinging his weapon wildly, but the kid had already moved back out of range.

The scythe however, had not, and it swung around now to catch the hammer man by the chest and propel him out the nearby window. He went flying through the glass panes with an almighty crash and landed in the rough cobblestone street outside with a loud grunt. As if to add insult to injury, the hammer fell heavily onto its owner's skull. The defeated fighter lay in the street groaning softly, aura fizzling around his body. The kid snickered as he picked up some of the scattered lien from the floor. He turned to the bartender, who was surveying the damages with a pale face. "Here, this should cover the table, right?"

* * *

Qrow swaggered down the street, taking care to step on the rude hammer wielder on the way. He ran a hand through his hair, brushing his bangs out of his hair and making it stick up in the back. "Well, that was fun."

Suddenly a swirl of red and black mist appeared in the air before him, and a girl with long black hair stepped out. Despite the fact that she held an incredibly long red blade in her hand, Qrow didn't flinch. "Raven."

"Qrow." Raven wrinkled her nose. "You've been drinking again."

"And you survived your test, I see." Qrow scratched his chin. "Guess that means we're going to Beacon, then."


	5. Into the Emerald Forest

Summer stared down at the vast green expanse of the Emerald Forest, far below the clifftop that she stood upon. She shivered involuntarily; climbing trees to ambush Grimm was one thing, but this vast height was another entirely.

"-do not hesitate to kill anything in your path, or you yourself will be killed." Summer tore her attention away from the forest below back to the Headmaster. "Once you land, the first person you make eye contact with will become your partner for your time here at Beacon."

Summer heard several of her fellow students mumbling in dismay; no doubt they had hoped for a better method of selecting partners than simple, random chance. She herself had known already, having been told by Ozpin before she had arrived what to expect from the Initiation. Not that it made much of a difference. She was more experienced than many of her peers, so who she got as a partner likely wouldn't matter.

That's not to say she didn't care at all. There were a few people she thought would be good to work with. The muscular blond with yellow gauntlets had seemed friendly enough when she'd briefly spoken to him the day before, as was his friend with the green hair and primitive club. The young man wearing a white outfit with a bright red streak in his black hair looked like one of Summer's countrymen; a fellow Atlesian might not be so bad.

And then there were those who she didn't want to be paired up with at all: the surly looking boy with black hair that stuck up in the back, or the girl with dead, golden eyes that seemed to suck in light. Something just seemed off about the latter, and former had been downright rude from what she had seen.

Summer shook herself out of her musings as the first student, the rude boy with messy hair, was launched high into the air. Perhaps it would be best if she got her partner like everyone else did. After all, she didn't really know anyone there. And as a Huntress, she'd eventually have to work together with different people, so better to start now. In any case, now was not the time to be distracted.

The world tilted sideways and the sky and earth switched places as Summer Rose was thrown off the cliff.

* * *

Taiyang whooped as he streaked through the air, the wind pulling at his clothes and ruffling his hair. At the apex of his arc, he twitched his wrists, and Ember Celica spat out a concussive blast, launching him forward. The greenery of the forest below blurred as he rocketed deeper into the woods. He wondered what Will was doing, if his friend had landed in the forest yet. Tai had been launched off the cliff first, but he'd managed to stay aloft with his gauntlets, and he knew Will didn't exactly have a method of flying like he did.

If you could call what Tai was doing flying, that is. Truth be told, it was more akin to the disastrous attempts that the Atlas military had made toward space travel, using pure concussive force and concentrated explosions to power aerial movement. Disastrous because Dust stopped working after it left Remnant's atmosphere. Fortunately, Tai wasn't high enough for that to happen.

Still, he couldn't stay airborne forever; eventually he'd run out of ammunition, and he'd have to land in the woods below without the use of his weapons. Better to conserve the Dust he had left for the inevitable fighting against the Grimm he'd caught glimpses as he'd flown overhead. Taiyang grunted as he twisted in midair, and triggered his gauntlets. The trajectory of his flight stopped short as he shot downward with incredible force, heading straight for a relatively clear patch of ground.

The noise of his landing echoed around the Emerald Forest, and Tai winced as he got to his feet. He'd made a pretty impressive crater in the earth, and an even louder sound. No doubt the Grimm would be coming, attracted to the sound of violence even if it wasn't directed at anything in particular. Tai set off at a brisk jog in the direction he'd been flying. He didn't know exactly where the temple he was supposed to be heading towards was, but suspected it would be near the northern end of the forest. A quick glance at the moss growing on the sides of the trees confirmed that he was headed in the right direction.

His attention was diverted however, by a loud crashing noise. Tai stopped short as a Beowolf flew through the shrubbery in front of him to land on its back. To his credit, he didn't show any of the surprise he felt at the sudden appearance of the Grimm, instead stepping up to it and blasting a hole through its skull with a swinging overhand strike. "Sure is strange weather we're having today." He muttered to himself. "I've heard of it raining cats and dogs, but wolves?"

A twig snapped from the direction the Grimm had come, and Tai readied himself for another fight. The bushes rustled, and a boy with shaggy black hair and a large scythe in his hands burst out yelling like a madman. "COME BACK HERE YA SCRAWNY MUTT-"

Lilac eyes met red ones, and Tai grinned and held out his hand, letting Ember Celica retract into its inactive mode. "Howdy, partner!"

In response, the boy smacked his forehead and groaned. "Oh man, Raven is gonna kill me."

* * *

Raven wasted no time. As soon as she reached the peak of her flight after being launched off the cliff and her momentum ran out, she pulled a blade from her scabbard and slashed the air, creating the familiar red circle of mist. Qrow had been the first to be launched, and she figured he'd probably landed by now. Hopefully the brainless fool hadn't gone and done something idiotic again.

As soon as Raven landed cat-like on the forest floor however, her hopes were dashed. Her landing had been fine, but the sight that greeted her... not so much.

"I don't suppose I can convince you to be someone else's partner?" Qrow stood with his back toward her, speaking to a boy with blond hair. The corpse of a Beowolf lay disintegrating at their feet, and the two seemed to be arguing.

"Come on, if it's the whole cowboy thing, I swear I don't talk like that normally." The blond laughed. "Besides, why wouldn't you want to be partners with this hunk of manliness?"

"This is why." Qrow deadpanned. "Also I need to find my sister-"

"QROW!" Raven shouted.

Her twin jumped about a foot in the air before turning around with a sheepish grin on his face. "Hey, sis... Long time, no see?"

"It's been less than five minutes." Raven sighed, sheathing her sword. "You had one job, dumbass."

"Hey, you know I have a short attention span." Qrow held up his hands. "You were taking too long, there were some Grimm, and then I ran into this guy." He pointed to the blond, who snapped his fingers and pointed at Raven with a wink.

The twins stared at the boy, who grinned back. Raven turned to her brother. "I'm leaving you with him."

"No please!" Qrow fell to his knees. "We're family Rae, doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Not when you call me by that ridiculous nickname." Raven sniffed. "Besides, he seems perfect for you. Dumb and dumber."

"I have a name, you know." The blond spoke up. "Taiyang Xiao Long. But you can call me Tai." He held out a hand to Raven to shake.

Raven ignored him. "Now I need to find a partner. Preferably someone competent."

"What a coincidence, so do I."

* * *

Qrow was having a pretty bad day. All he'd been doing was killing some Grimm. Then somehow he'd gotten stuck with this blond weirdo for a partner, and his own sister had no sympathy for him. And now some random girl in a white cloak had shown up, seemingly out of nowhere. Just wonderful.

"What makes you think I'd want you as a partner?" Raven addressed the new girl, who sat above them on a tree branch. "My standards are quite high, you know."

"Well, for starters, if I'd wanted it, you wouldn't have a choice." The girl replied. She touched the hood of her cloak, which was pulled low enough to obscure her eyes from view. "Those two," she pointed to Qrow and Taiyang, "are partners because they made eye contact. We haven't done any such thing, so you and I aren't bound together."

Qrow stared up at the strange chick. She had spoken very quickly, and seemingly without taking a breath. He wondered if she'd memorized that speech beforehand, and how long she had been watching them from the tree.

"Well, thanks for that, I suppose." Raven said finally. "So why haven't you?"

The girl shrugged. "You don't seem like a very nice person. And I don't know anything about you, other than that your Semblance can allow you to teleport."

"That goes both ways, you know." Raven crossed her arms. "I don't carry this big box of swords for show. Besides, I don't see any weapons on you-"

Qrow had never seen anyone get the drop on Raven, save for their own mother. He wasn't even sure what had happened, one second the girl was sitting in a tree, the next she'd exploded into a flurry of what looked like white petals, and was suddenly standing in front of Raven, with two curved blades crossed at his sister's throat.

He gripped the handle of his weapon, which was still in its scythe form, but he wasn't fast enough to leap across the clearing and strike before the girl did. Not to mention she had seemingly teleported-

"Qrow, do us all a favor and don't do anything stupid." Raven's voice broke into his thoughts, and Qrow froze. "I have my Aura, and she's not going to hurt me."

"Aren't I?" The girl smiled beneath her hood.

"You're here to learn how to become a Huntsman, of course you're not." Raven scoffed. "I don't think the school would let you in if you killed another prospective student. Besides, I can take care of myself!"

Raven leapt backward suddenly in a somersault, the tip of her boot catching the girl on her chin and knocking her back. In a single fluid motion, she drew a long red blade from her scabbard, and held it out before her, ready to fight. Meanwhile, the hooded girl disappeared again before reappearing several meters away, her two long knives connected at the hilts to form a bow, with an arrow nocked and drawn back, ready to fire.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Taiyang yelped, holding his hands out. "Let's all just calm down. I'm sure we can resolve this without violence."

"Kick her ass, Rae!" Qrow shouted.

To his disappointment, both girls looked at him with disgust, before putting their weapons away. "Alright, you're cool." Raven admitted. "I'm Raven Branwen."

The girl drew back the hood of her cloak, revealing shoulder-length dark red hair and startlingly silver eyes. "I'm Summer. Summer Rose."


	6. To Be a Huntsman

"Are we there yet?"

"Qrow, if you ask that question one more time, I will stab you." Raven promised.

"I don't see what you're so pissed off about." Her twin shrugged. "I've only asked about thirteen times."

"Once would have been more than enough." Summer replied. "None of us have any idea exactly where this temple we're supposed to be finding is, and how far we might be from it. Asking annoying, repetitive questions won't help in any way."

"Alright, alright." Qrow sighed, lacing his fingers together behind his head. "I'm just bored, is all."

"We could always toss you to the Grimm, if that helps." Tai offered. Qrow glared at his partner, who grinned back.

"You're not funny."

"Both of you shut up." Raven growled. "I hear something."

Indeed, the two boys had been so busy bickering that neither had noticed the strange rustling sound from the nearby bushes. Truth be told, Summer had been too busy being amused by the pair that she hadn't realized either. Silently, she drew an ordinary arrow from her quiver and nocked it to her bow. She nodded to Raven. "I'll scout ahead, see what we're dealing with."

With that, Summer activated her Semblance, bursting into a cloud of white rose petals and reappearing in the branches of a tree that hung over the bushes. As it turned out, the four of them had been just by a clearing, one that was full of snarling Beowolves, and a young woman with pink hair wielding a rather thick metal rod with strange markings. One of them had been tossed across the clearing into the bushes, hence the rustling.

Summer drew the arrow on her bow and let it fly into the skull of the stunned Beowolf before Scattering again back to the others. "Guys, there's a girl on her own fighting a pack of Beowolves!"

"Let's go help her then!" Tai shook his wrists and the yellow bracelets lengthened and unfolded into their gauntlet forms. Without waiting for the others, he charged straight into the bushes. Almost immediately they heard the sounds of shotgun blasts and Beowolves howling.

Summer made to follow the blond, but stopped when she noticed that the twins hadn't moved. "Guys... aren't you going to help?"

"Ain't my problem." Qrow shrugged.

"Tai's your partner, isn't he?" Summer frowned. "You're supposed to work with him!"

"I didn't ask to be partners with him." The dark-haired boy sniffed disdainfully. "Besides, I'm sure he can take care of himself."

"That's not the point!" Summer exclaimed, appalled at his words. She turned to Raven, hoping that she at least would see sense. "You guys are here for the same reason as I am, right? To be Huntsmen? Do you think the school would turn a blind eye if you let fellow students die?"

Raven crossed her arms. "Not everyone's as naive as you, Summer. There's a difference between being a Huntsman and being a hero. Qrow and I came to learn how to be the first, not die being the second."

Summer opened her mouth, but nothing came out. "Fine." She snarled. "Clearly I've misjudged the both of you. If you're fine with letting people die, then go save your own skins!" Not looking back to see the twins' reactions, she stomped off after Tai.

* * *

Tai punched the Beowolf looming over him so hard that its head flew off. There were a lot of the Grimm in the clearing, probably over thirty by the looks of it, but they weren't all that strong. At least, not in the face of his Semblance, which made him stronger the longer he continuously fought. Tai reminded himself to calm down, lest he burn through all his Aura.

"So." He called to the pink-haired girl. "How'd you end up in this mess?"

"Landed in a tree nearby, and had the bad luck to run into this lot." She smiled brightly even as she smacked a Beowolf's claws away from her with her strange metal stick, which was too short to be a staff, yet too long for a baton.

"Yeah, I was on my way to the temple with my partner and another pair when we heard the some rustling from the bushes." Tai replied, moving to stand back to back with the girl. "Summer went to scout ahead and saw you fighting this pack on your own."

"Is Summer your partner?" The girl asked.

"Nah, I wish." Tai scoffed. "My partner's probably gone and ditched me. He wasn't happy he was stuck with me. His sister too."

"I'm sorry to hear that." The girl kicked an oncoming Grimm back. "I don't have a partner yet, but I'd hope whoever I get would have my back."

"Yeah, me too." Tai thought back to the other three. "Come to think of it, where's Summer? I thought she'd be decent enough to help out."

"Right here!" A yellow tipped arrow came flying out of the bushes Tai had crashed through, and struck a Beowolf. There was a loud crackling noise, and arcs of lightning spread through the tightly packed Grimm. Summer Rose strode through the bushes, uncoupling the two halves of her bow and holding them like a pair of short swords. She cut a path through the paralyzed Beowolves with her blades, making her way toward Tai and the pink-haired girl.

"Summer!" Tai grinned. "Meet- actually I don't know your name." He realized.

"I'm Sakura Nitta." The pink-haired girl smiled. "And you are?"

"Taiyang Xiao Long."

"Can this wait until we're out of danger?" Summer asked. "We're in a bit of a tight spot as it is."

"Where are the others?" Tai looked around, but saw only Grimm. "Don't tell me they actually ditched us."

"It would seem so." Summer sighed. "We're on our own."


End file.
